by Athena Nicole Last, Senior Research Fellow, Jay Mehta CBARC
In 2022, Jobs to Move America and the Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits signed a historic community benefits agreement (CBA) with New Flyer — the largest electric transit bus manufacturer in North America — covering facilities in Anniston, Alabama and Ontario, California.
The effects of the CBA are most pronounced in Anniston, where, years later, it continues to reshape how public investments can benefit communities and challenges the old playbook of how companies do business in the South. JMA’s Jay Mehta Community Benefits Agreement Resource Center (CBARC) released anew report that shows how it was done, and how other groups can replicate the CBA model to achieve equitable economic development in their communities.
I spent the last year interviewing people who were instrumental in achieving the New Flyer CBA and its implementation, as well as workers who were positively impacted by the CBA and unionizing with IUE-CWA.
Anniston is emblematic of many communities in the United States that have suffered the negative effects of institutional discrimination and extractive industries, and where historically marginalized individuals continue to face systemic barriers to upward mobility. In these communities, local governments will often deploy economic development incentives hoping to spur local job creation and community investment. But too often, these projects allow corporations to extract resources, exploit workers, and leave behind poverty and environmental harm—with little to no lasting benefit for the community. This pattern underscores the urgent need for new approaches that center community well-being and corporate accountability.
The New Flyer CBA offers a clear example of what a different path can look like. The Alabama Coalition of Community Benefits negotiated a mutually beneficial agreement with New Flyer that helps transform the business-as-usual model to one where companies positively impact historically disadvantaged communities. The success here shows how embedding equity and transparency into public-private partnerships is not only possible, but essential.
Scott Douglas, Executive Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, a key coalition partner of ours in Alabama, shared his views of the “Alabama Discount” in the report:
“Companies do not have to follow the ‘Alabama Discount’; we know you can have higher standards. Rather than go with the crowd, be a leader in industry — not just along for the free ride.”
Our agreement with New Flyer shows how companies, in partnership with diverse communities, can be that leader.
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